The Dike-New Hartford summer sports teams went 2-2 in Monday’s doubleheaders at Waterloo Columbus, which were the NICL-Central finales. In a softball doubleheader that aired on 99 The Wave, the Wolverines won 10-6 in six innings and 13-3 in five innings. The baseball team lost 8-1 and 15-10.
In the first softball game, the Wolverines built a 3-0 lead after four innings, but it changed in the fifth. The first scoring play of the inning was a two-run home run by Madde Buskohl.
Buskohl home run highlight:
After Kailyn Meester drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, pitcher Faith Gray came to the plate.
Faith Gray first home run:
Gray pitched the first game and recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts with one walk and five hits.
“Every time I’m out on the mound, I always feel super supported by my team and everything,” Gray says. “So I think they really helped me out there, getting those 10 strikeouts. I know in the end I got the strikeouts, but the team’s always there supporting me and being there behind my back. I feel like that goes for both games. As Rhandi said, I was in kind of a slump there for a while, but I felt the same support when I was striking out and when I hit the home runs by the team.”
In the second game, the Wolverines scored six in the third inning. After Chloe Gorby scored on a passed ball, Gray hit her second deep shot of the night.
Faith Gray second home run:
Later in the inning, Karsyn Nolan scored on a wild pitch, and Buskohl and Addi Ryan drove in runs. The Sailors scored three in the bottom of the third, but the Wolverines added three in the fifth to end it early. Interim Head Coach Rhandi Oelmann, filling in for Tianna Butteris due to maternity leave, says the team showed versatility amid defensive changes.
“The heat, it’s been brutal the last about week and a half, and we expect this in Iowa for softball,” Oelmann says. “But anytime that we can take Payton Nolan out from behind the plate and get her out of the gear and put her in there, we’re going to do that. This is a lineup I don’t think we’ve worked at in practice or anything. I thought everyone did a great job and looked sharp. Kailyn Meester again, she does a great job coming in, backup pitching for us and I thought she did great tonight and her defense played well.”
Meester pitched the complete game with four strikeouts, two walks and seven hits. The team racked up 14 hits. DNH (16-8, 9-3 NICL-C) will return to action Wednesday at Decorah.
Faith Gray interview:
Rhandi Oelmann interview:
In the baseball doubleheader, the Wolverines were unable to hold down the Sailor offense, which scored 11 of its runs in the first three innings of the second game. Lewis Texter had a two-run home run in Game 2. DNH (12-9, 7-5 NICL-C) has finished second in the standings, a game behind the Sailors. They’ll host Williamsburg Wednesday.
